Golden Flower: Live in Sweden＜限定盤＞

伝説的ミュージシャン、ユセフ・ラティーフをフィーチャーしたスウェーデン国営テレビ・ラジオアーカイブ所蔵の2つの傑出したライブ録音が初の公式リリース!

1967年、ストックホルム・モセバッケで、ラーシュ・ショーステン、パーレ・ダニエルソン、アルバート・"トゥーティー"・ヒースと共演したセッションと1972年、オーフス・ジャズ・フェスティバルにてケニー・バロン、ボブ・カニンガム、トゥーティ・ヒースと共演したセッションを収録。
これは高い評価を得た『アトランティス・ララバイ:アヴィニョン・コンサート』(2024年)に続く、エレメンタル・ミュージックとユセフ・ラティーフ財団の共同による2作目の公式リリース。

Culled from previously unreleased recordings from Swedish television and radio archives, Golden Flower: Live in Sweden presents Yusef Lateef leading two different quartets in performances in Sweden in 1967 and 1972. Always commanding on both tenor sax and flute, Lateef is in excellent form on both dates, with each showcasing a different side of his artistic character. While Albert “Tootie” Heath is the drummer on both sets, the 1967 material, recorded at a club date in Stockholm, features Swedish musicians Palle Danielsson on bass and Lars Sjosten on piano. This half of Golden Flower tends to be smoother and more straight-ahead, with Lateef and his group cruising through a cool take of “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” the playful and even silly inclusion “One Little Indian,” and Lateef’s smoldering blues tune “Blind Willie.” Lateef’s flute playing shines on both the slowly blooming title track and the mournful solo piece “The Poor Fisherman.” The energy is considerably amplified on the 1972 performance. Lateef and Heath are joined here by bassist Bob Cunningham and pianist Kenny Barron, blowing through a set of fiery post-bop at that year’s Ahus Jazz Festival. “Inside Atlantis” starts in high gear and steam rolls through for 15 minutes, breaking into fragments of funk on occasion only to return to high-energy free flow. The performances remain lively on the band’s take of “Eboness,” a powerfully grooving composition by Detroit drummer Roy Brooks, and the high-spirited boogie of “Yusef’s Mood,” but there’s a brief lull with the softly reflective piano-and-flute duet “A Flower,” penned by Barron. The high-quality sound and stellar performances make Golden Flower: Live in Sweden a fantastic document of Lateef’s evolution in sound across the years that separate these two gigs. The contrast in style, emotion, and presentation speak to how his artistry was growing in this period alongside the changing shape of jazz itself. ~ Fred Thomas